Suction-sweeper



H. E. HOOVER.

sucmm swjEEPm APPLICATION FILED MAR.1| 15H8- 1,334,757. Patented Mar. 23, 1920n All ITED STATES. PATENT enrichi.

l-ltlW'AED EARL HOOVER, 0F CHIGAGQ'ILLINOIS, ASSIGN'DR T0 THE'I-IOQVER SUCTION SW'EEPER COMPANY, 0F NEW BERLIN, Oli-110?, ACRPORATION 0F OHIO.

snoeren-sirname.

Specification of Letter.: atent.

Patented Mar. es, 1920.

Application filed March ll, 1913. Serial No. 221,627.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, HOWARD EARL Hoeven, a citizen oit the United States, residing at lncago, in the county of Cook and State of llllinois, have. invented a certain new and useful llmprovement in Suction-Sweepers, of which the following is a specification.

ll/ly invention relates to improvements in suction. nozzles tor suction sweepers and has tor one object to provide a supporting means tor an end removable brush within the nozzle. Another object is to provide means for adjusting the height of the brush as the bristles wear to keep the bristle ends in the proper operative relation with the door or the surface covering to be cleaned. Another object is to provide means for automatically and properly adjusting the two ends ot the brush simultaneously. Another object is to provide a suction nozzle wherein fixed brush linger gua-rds may be provided and wherein the brush itself may be withdrawn without interfering with said inger guards. An-r other object is to provide a brush which may be adjusted toward and from the surface to the cleaned without removing it from its operative position within the suction nozzle. Another object is to provide individual guard lingers capable of individual separate replacement. @ther objects will appear trom time to time in the specification.

My invention is illustrated, more or less diagrammatieally in the accompanying drawings, whereinv lligure l is a side elevation of the end of the suction nozzle with the suction sweeper itselfbroken away i;

Fig. 2 is a section along the line Fig'. l; V

Fig. 3 is a section` along the line 3-8 of lliig. 2 looking in the direction" of the arrows with brush removed and Fig. A is a section along the line 4--4 of lFig. 3.

like parts are indicated by like characters in all the ligures.

A is the suction sweeper housing. It normally forms a part of an assembly which contains the usual motor and suction fan and. transmission 'from the motor to the beating and sweeping brush. These features form no part of my present invention and I have,

therefore, omitted them. The open mouth suction nozzle at A1 located on the under eide of the housing A is bounded by front Ltably mounted thereon.

A which hold them against rotation and v they are held in position by nuts AT. The rearward ends 0i' the ngers are bent upwardly and rearwardly as at A8 to overhang a ilange A9 projecting forwardly into the nozzle from the rear wall A3 as indicated. These, linger .guards can, of course, be removed by a mechanic but they are for all practical purposes immovable' and permanent. The user of the machine will ordi narily not talee out the lingers.` lllhen neces-y sary they can be removed by a repair man or by any ordinary skilled mechanic and they `may be replaced without difliculty by such man when they wear out or brealr or bend. ln a very real sense, however, these lingers are lined because the operator of the machine will never have occasion to .remove these lingers and would ordinarily not be able so to do so that for all ractical purposes they are hired permanent n ers.

rl`he nozzle is provided with two absolutely identical end walls and l have shown and will describe therefore only one as a description of one will suflice tor the other. The end wall is apertured as at B and this aperture is adapted to be closed by a vcircular dish' B1. The joint between the boundary of the aperture andthe periphery of the disk is rabbe'ted as indicated in order that the inward movement of the dish may be limited. B2 is a spring locking finger pivoted on the screw B3 on the end wall and having a boss B4' adapted to engage a counter` a notch BB in the disk or plate B1 whereby the plate is held against rotation and must always be properly positionedy 'before it can be seated.

C is a brush carrying and adjusting; lever. It is pivoted on a pin C1 which penetrates a perforation C2 in the plate B1 and is rota- This 'lever is in general terms triangular in shape with its apex at the pin C1. It has a curved coveringportion C3 substantially concentric with the pin-C1 carrying a rivet C5 which asses outwardly through a curved slot C 1n the plate Bland carries a thumb nut Cf' whereby the lever may be manipulated and locked against rotation in. position on the inner side of the plate B1. C8 is a pointer carried by a washer C9 on the bolt C5 and provided with a squared portion as indicated to engage and travel in the slot CG whereby the pointer is held always in proper relation to the indicating lines C1o on the outside of the plate B? thus enabling the operator at a glance to from the bottom of the cup D on one side i to a similar cup on the other side thus tying the vparts together and furnishing a back bone for the brush. D5 is a bearing sleeve lwithin the brush rotatably mounted on the shaft and D6 are the brush bristles.

It will be noted that there is a free space between the end of thebrush and the'botp tom of the cup between the flange on the end of the brush and the walls of the cup so that any7 air which is introducedinto the cup at the end of the brush will be free to pass out around it to keep dust and dirt away from the lbrush end. The slot C6 is open through the plate B1 and conununicates with an air passage E formed inthe portion C3 of the lever C. This passage is of such length that it is always in register with the slot C but the slot C6 is never free to communicate directly with 'the interior of the suction nozzle. E1L isa passage communicating with the passage E and also with apertures E2 through the bottom of the cup. Thus air is introduced in a'stream into the bottom of the 'cup through the slot C". and thusv as long as there is suction in the nozzle this stream of air will pass .in driving the dust and dirt away from the ends of the brush. i

It willvbe evident that while I have shown in my drawings an operative device, still many changes might be made both in size, shape and arrangement of parts Without departing materially from the spirit of my invention and I Wish, therefore, that my drawings be regarded as in a sense diagrammatic.

The use and operation ofA my invention are as follows'z-k -that is why they are not here shown.

cleaned in the Iusual manner. A current of air is drawn in through the nozzle by means not here shown. The'brush is rotated positively by the motor which operates the air current producing means. hese features form no part of my present invention aIIid n order that the carpet may not be drawn up in the nozzle and wo'und about the brush, I provide a series of. guard fingers extending across the plane of the nozzle. These fingers also keep the carpet from being drawn hp too lnear to the `center of rotation of the brush and thus reduce the pressure on the brush bristles and protect the brush against too rapid wearing away. These lingers are made of preferably a very hard tempered steel because they are worn away from the back :by the brush bristles and from the front by the carpet and if they are not hard they will wear away with fatal rapidity or else bend by contact with the brush or the carpet. However, owing to their hardness they are more or less brittle and they do break. It

sometimes becomes necessary to replace them and means are provided as lndicated whereby a mechanic ean'replaoe them. They are, however, for all practical purposes fixed in position. The operator who uses the machine is not expected to tamper with the fingers. They are separatel and independent and locked in position.

It -is frequently necessary to change the brushwor to adjust it or withdraw it for cleaning or to replace the belt which drives it and II have provided means whereby the brush may be withdrawn through the end ofl the nozzle without interfering with the fingers. In orderlto withdraw the brush you swing the spring closure holding member to one side and pull out the closure. This brings with it the brush supporting and adjusting lever and lea-ves the brush free in the nozzle because the brush shaft just rests within a perforation in the bottom of the cup-shaped thread guard. The

tom? of each of the two cup-shaped thread guards by vseating the closing disk or plate and throwing the spring plate holding lever into place.

With the two end closures in place the brush may be moved toward'and from the plane of the nozzle by loosening the thumbscrews and moving them up or down through the curved slot. The adjustment of height of the brush is arbitrarily indicated thread guard. This air cornes in throughl the Vslot in the closure through which the brush adjusting thumb screw projects. This air comes into a path or-corridor just inside the periphery of the vcupshaped thread guard and inclosed on one side by the plate thence the air passes in through perforations in the bottom of the cup-shaped thread guard in the spacel between the end of the brush and the thread guard whence it passes around the end of the brush and is discharged from the thread guard into the' body of the suction nozzle."

It will be not/ed, of course, that the pin arrangement for `holding the end closure against rotation is nothing more or less than a keyy and a key may be attached to the plate or it may be attached to the closure but there must be a keyway or key sea-t on Whichever one of the two parts-does not carry the key for the purpose of insuring that the parts shall be properly positioned. This key, of course, might be put in as'separate from the casting or it might merely be an ear or tooth or integral portion but it acts as4 a key.

Lolaimz- 1, In a suction cleaner,l a nozzle provided with a dust inlet opening and an end apertured Wall, in combination with a brush supported Within the nozzle and adapted to be moved endwise through the aperture, a

plate on which the brush issupported which serves as a closure for the end aperture, av

lever pivoted on the plate,l means for supporting the brush thereon and a cup-shaped thread guard integral with the llever, surrounding the end ofk the brush fand larger in cross section than the brush end, the plate and thread guard apertured and shaped so as to provide an unobstructed air passage from outside the nozzle vto and beyond the ends of the brush.

2. In a suction cleaner, a nozzle ,provided with a dust inlet opening and an end apertured Wall, in combination with a brush supported Within the nozzle and adapted to be moved endwise through the "aperture, a

plate on Which the brush is supported which serves as a closure for the end aperture, a lever pivoted on the'plate, means for supporting the brush thereon and a cup-shaped thread guard integral with the lever, surrounding the end of the brush and larger in cross section than the brush end, 4said brush end provided with a flange within the cup, the plate and thread guard aper tured and shaped soV as to provide an unobstructed air passage front outside the nozzle to and beyond the ends of the brush.

' 3. In a suction cleaner, a nozzle provided With a dust inlet opening and an end apertured Wall, in combination with a brush supported Within the nozzle and adapted to be moved endwise through the aperture, a plate on which the brush is supported which serves as a closure for the end aperture, a lever pivoted on the plate, means for supporting the brush thereon and a' cup-shaped thread guard `integral with the lever, surrounding the end ofA the brush and larger in cross section than the brush end, said plate .being slotted concentric Withthe lever and locking and adjusting means extending' through said slot engaging the lever and means including said slot for introducing a current of air from `the outside into the suction nozzle around the end of the brush.

- 4. In a suction cleaner a nozzle pro-vided with a dust inlet opening, a brush sup-v ported in the nozzle and means for rotating it, va guard finger bent and screw-threaded at one end, the Wall of the nozzle being slotted and perforated, the slot to engage the bent portion of the finger, the perforation to engage the screw-threaded portion and a nut Yto engage the screw-threaded part of the finger to lock it in position.

,5. In a suction cleaner a nozzle provided with a dust inlet opening, a brush rotatably -mounted therein, a guard finger extending across the open mouth of the nozzle, means for holding the guard finger in position in the nozzle comprising a slot Within the wallgf the nozzle, a bent extension of the guard" finger and means for rigidly holding such 'bent guard finger extension in place AWithin the slot.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature `in the presence of two witnesses this fifth day of March, 1918. 

